News about Faculty & Staff

A dozen plastics professionals representing five companies benefited from a recent weeklong workshop hosted by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its renowned Plastics Innovation & Resource Center.

The Injection Molding Processing Series combined lecture and hands-on experience in covering decoupled molding setup and operation and the injection molding process. Through real-world examples and troubleshooting sessions, participants learned how the mold, machine and plastic material all play a role in the molding of plastics parts.

Read more

The Student & Administrative Services Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology will soon bear the name of retiring President Davie Jane Gilmour.

The college’s Board of Directors convened a special meeting to approve the action at a gala event honoring Gilmour’s 24-year presidency. The board also granted emeritus status to Gilmour, who retires June 30.

The Student & Administrative Services Center, known in campus shorthand as “the SASC,” houses offices for student services such as Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Veterans & Military, the LEAP Center (first-year student assistance) and more. The upper floors of the three-story facility, which opened in 2003, includes spaces for People & Culture (formerly Human Resources), Financial Operations, Information Technology Services, Public Relations & Marketing and executive offices, including the President’s Office and Academic Affairs.

Read more

The 36th Annual Penn College Foundation Golf Classic, featuring six-time PGA Tour winner Rocco Mediate, recently raised a record-setting $140,360 for student scholarships at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

With this year’s support, the Penn College Foundation Golf Classic Scholarship Fund now totals nearly $2.1 million. Proceeds from the annual Golf Classic and accumulated investment income created the endowed scholarship fund, one of the foundation’s largest.

Mediate, a Greensburg native who has also won three times on the Champions Tour, including the 2016 Senior PGA Championship, hosted a driving-range exhibition and played three holes with seven foursomes during the event, held at the Williamsport Country Club.

Read more

A national foundation devoted to manufacturing’s future is teaming with Pennsylvania College of Technology to spark interest among high schoolers in the sector’s rewarding careers.

Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, the charitable foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International, provided a $2,000 grant for the college to host the Thingamajig Fabricators Pre-College Program for students entering grades 9-12. The program is also supported by the PMMI Education and Training Foundation and Construction Specialties Inc.

Read more

Ready to see what hands-on learning is all about? Here’s a teasing glimpse of the action that’s set to unfold in the Pennsylvania College of Technology episode of The College Tour, produced nationally and streaming on Amazon Prime when Season Five drops on Aug. 31:

Now that your interest is piqued, watch the full episode at Penn College’s College Tour website. Filmed over five days during the spring semester and edited into 27 brisk minutes, the video features 10 standout students in dedicated segments: Ashlee Felix, human services & restorative justice (Business, Arts & Sciences); Caila N. Flanagan, who earned two business degrees (Wildcat Life); Alejandro F. Huaman, a building science & sustainable design: architectural technology concentration alumnus (Engineering Technologies); Dacia J. James, dental hygiene (Nursing & Health Sciences); Jesse D. Laird V, a nursing student and ROTC cadet (Commitment to Service); Danielle E. Malesky, construction management (Momentum Guaranteed); Maggie J. Mangene, a softball player and heating, ventilation & air conditioning design technology student (Stay Wild); Wesley S. McCray, an engineering design technology grad (Future Made by Hand); Kathryn A. Plankenhorn, physician assistant studies (Explore Campus & Beyond); and automotive technology management alumnus Dhruv Singh (Come Ready, Leave Prepared). After hearing their stories and getting the inside track on campus life, we’re sure you’ll agree with host Alex Boylan that “There’s so much to love here!”

Thirty-four Pennsylvania College of Technology students – half of whom subsequently earned degrees last month – recently attained International Codes Council certification as Building Code Specialists.

The students comprised three sections of construction technology instructor Harry W. Hintz Jr.’s Codes in Construction class during the spring semester. To earn certificates, students had to score 70% or better on a 60-question, 2-hour-allotted, written examination on the building provisions of “The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.”

Read more

Pennsylvania College of Technology has appointed experienced educator Nathaniel E. Woods Jr. to a newly created position: special assistant to the president for inclusion transformation.

Woods comes to Penn College from Grays Harbor College, Aberdeeen, Washington, where he is interim dean of workforce education and a tenured faculty member in human services.

Read more

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a 2022-23 total budget of $161.5 million calling for a 1.87% increase in tuition for in-state students.

The total budget represents a 3.22% increase over 2021-22. The operating budget for 2022-23 is $113.3 million.

The state appropriation is budgeted at $28.1 million, based on Gov. Tom Wolf’s state budget proposal, which prescribes a 5% increase for Penn College. The projected appropriation accounts for 17.4% of the college’s total budget and 24.8% of the operating budget.

Read more

William J. Martin, who retired as Pennsylvania College of Technology’s senior vice president in 2011 after serving the institution with distinction for nearly three decades, has been granted “emeritus” status.

Retired faculty and staff at Pennsylvania College of Technology are eligible for emeritus status if they have demonstrated a record of distinguished service to students, their department, their academic school and/or the college itself.  The college’s Board of Directors approved the designation for Martin at its Thursday meeting.

Read more

Pennsylvania College of Technology has granted faculty emeritus status to Patrick D. Murphy, a founding member of what is now the graphic design department.

Murphy, who retired in 2010 after 31 years of teaching service to Penn College, was the recipient of the college’s highest honor granted to faculty – the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award – in 1989.

He developed the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science degree in graphic design and served on a committee charged with developing baccalaureate degrees across campus. Additionally, he was instrumental in implementing capstone course projects for bachelor’s degrees.

Read more

Mark R. Bierly and Shawn R. Simmons, both of whom graduated last month in automotive technology: Honda PACT emphasis, take viewers on a tour of Penn College’s automotive majors. In a newly released video, shot in their dwindling time as students, the pair discuss why they chose Penn College and what they like most about their program. “I knew that I wanted to do something that was hands-on and not sit behind a desk all day,” Simmons says. “When I found out about the eight-week classes and the eight-week paid internships, I was sold!” Bierly adds. They also show off the labs, explain the various degree options, and talk about the ease of leveling up from certificate to associate to bachelor’s.

Kelly T. Bidlespacher has been named director of nursing, bachelor’s and graduate degrees, at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Bidlespacher, a registered nurse, began her Penn College experience as an adjunct faculty member in 2019 and served as the clinical director of nursing at the college from 2020-22.

Read more

During the past decade, Pennsylvania College of Technology emerged as a top contender in the prestigious Baja SAE endurance race with several top-10 finishes. During the past month, the Penn College team established itself as the best in the world with two victories.

Penn College topped a 77-car field in Palmyra, New York, on Sunday, June 5, to win the four-hour endurance race at Baja SAE Rochester. Three weeks earlier, the team captured the endurance competition at Baja SAE Tennessee Tech. At both events, Penn College bested the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Cornell, Rochester Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.

“I’m overwhelmed by the team’s performance,” said John G. Upcraft, instructor of manufacturing and machining and adviser to Penn College’s Baja SAE club since its inception 17 years ago. “Winning the race once was amazing, but winning twice in three weeks over such outstanding schools is unbelievable. I couldn’t be prouder!”

Read more

Penn College was busily represented at the 31st annual World War II Weekend, “A Gathering of Warbirds,” held Friday through Sunday at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading. “Visitors to the table could build a model B26 Marauder using aviation tools and materials,” said Thomas D. Inman, an associate professor of aviation, who facilitated construction of about 250 replicas of the vintage bomber. Among those visitors during the event – which attracted enthusiastic and engaged children, adults and prospective aviation students – was 99-year-old Dorothy Trate. “Dottie” was an original “Rosie the Riveter,” one of the thousands of women who stepped into manufacturing jobs to help the war effort.
Photos provided

Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity joined state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23) on a Thursday tour of Pennsylvania College of Technology, hosted by President Davie Jane Gilmour, to promote the PA 529 College and Career Savings Program.

“Penn College offers a wide range of programs that are crucial to making sure Pennsylvania has the highly skilled workers we need for the future,” Garrity said. “Treasury’s PA 529 plans are the perfect tool to help families save and pay for education – including the popular nursing, welding and information technology programs here at Penn College. I want to thank Sen. Yaw and Dr. Gilmour for inviting me to tour this impressive campus.”

Read more